1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving assistance apparatus and a driving assistance method for providing appropriate driving assistance to a driver of a vehicle traveling on a merging lane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there have been proposed a large number of driving assistance technologies for avoiding traffic accidents of automobiles by giving assistances to drivers' function such as recognition, decision, or operation (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-352636 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-44744). Specific examples of the above-mentioned driving assistance technologies include the following control.
First, there is known Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) control, in which a camera or the like installed in a vehicle is used to keep a distance between an own vehicle and a forward vehicle at a certain length or longer and at the same time maintain a vehicle speed at a set speed. Secondly, there is known Lane Keep Assist (LKA) control, in which separation lines of a driving lane on which the vehicle is traveling are detected and a driver's steering wheel operation is assisted based on the detection result. Thirdly, there is known Lane Departure Warning (LDW) control, in which the driver is warned of a possibility of the vehicle departing from the driving lane when such a possibility exists.